This Time

Chapter 15

I tapped my chin thoughtfully as I looked over the list of heroes who had offered me an internship after the sports festival. While I didn't have as many as the top performers of course, I did still have several to choose from. Interning was definitely not something I was looking forward to on the surface, but a part of me was excited to get back out in the field again regardless.

At the top of my page I'd scrawled in my curly hand writing several ideas for hero names, and hastily scratched through each. "Saint" had never really suited me - I never was a saint, nor would I ever be - but while most of the other students were able to decide on a name with varying levels of ease, inspiration for my new name evaded me.

The other students chattered excitedly about names and offers they'd received as we started to leave. Midoriya, Uraraka, and I trailed behind, wondering where Iida had gone. In a flash, All Might was there in the door, and with one look at his face I knew something was wrong.

"Hi. Come with me for a second," he told his successor, and whisked the kid away.

Uraraka and I looked at each other and shrugged. "Guess he'll catch up with us later," I said, wondering what on earth that was about. There was a rushed, almost panicked tone to Yagi's voice, and I hoped that nothing serious was happening. He would have told me if there was, right?

"Yeah. All Might seems to talk to Midoriya a lot - I can see where Todoroki got his idea from," she said as we walked down the hall together, referring to what the icy-hot boy had said at the sports festival. "So do you know where you want to intern yet?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not sure," I admitted, fiddling with the folded paper I'd tucked in my pocket. "I think you've got the right idea of it - it's more beneficial to pick an agency that will put you out of your comfort zone and teach you new skills. I just haven't decided what the best course for me is yet."

The brunette girl put a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Well, you're a strong fighter as we saw at the sports festival - what about a rescue agency?"

"Maybe," I said noncommittally. I'd done rescue work before as a vigilante, but never in a team effort. The same could be said for an agency that focused more on battle though - teamwork was the area I lacked experience in.

"By the way, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you and your friend last night. You two don't look anything alike so I'm not sure why I thought he was your dad," the teen girl said with a sheepish smile.

I laughed and shook my head, twirling a strand of hair in my hand idly. "It's fine, don't worry about it. He looks like he's a lot older than me, so I can see where the mistake came from. Did you guys have fun last night though?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from things I didn't want to think about.

"Oh yes!" she said excitedly and launched in a rundown of our classmates' antics. Apparently Aoyama had given a "dazzling" karaoke performance, and Mineta tried to creep on just about every moderately cute girl in the place (unsurprisingly). I listened to her talk with a smile, glad to hear they'd had a good time.

Later as we were all headed home (sans Iida, who we still hadn't seen), at the point where we usually went our separate ways Midoriya stopped me. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?" he asked a tad nervously.

"Sure. What's up?" I asked, turning to him. Uraraka had already said goodbye, so it was just the two of us standing outside the station.

"Um, let's go for a walk," he said, eyes shifting around, noticing how many others were within earshot.

"I've got a better idea, follow me," I suggested, and lead him around the corner.

"W-what are we doing?" he asked in confusion, and I smirked as I grabbed him by his upper arms.